Bobby Shmurda Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison Following Plea Deal

In December 2014, Brooklyn rapper Bobby Shmurda was arrested in Manhattan on gang conspiracy and gun and drug charges. City prosecutors alleged that the rapper was the “driving force” and “organizing figure” behind a Crips offshoot known as GS9, according to a New York Times profile last year. Shmurda (real name Ackquille Pollard) initially pled not guilty to all charges. Today, Shmurda took a plea deal offered by prosecutors, accepting a seven-year prison sentence, Billboard reports. That is a softer sentence than he might potentially have received in a jury trial, which was set to begin on Monday, September 12.

Shmurda and two co-defendants, Chad “Rowdy Rebel” Marshall and Nicholas McCoy, each pled guilty to 4th-degree conspiracy and 2nd-degree criminal weapons possession. The deal bars Shmurda from filing an appeal, but he will reportedly be credited for time served. That means five years are left on his sentence. Under the terms of the deal, Shmurda and the two co-defendants all had to accept it, or else none of them could.